The Supreme Court case addressing whether Microsoft Corp. must turn over customer data stored on overseas servers reflects how regulators and law enforcement are trying to exert their influence over an IT architecture that has slipped beyond their grasp.

Companies are moving information from on-premises servers to the cloud, and data that was once housed in one country and under one jurisdiction now can be stored anywhere in the world. Lawmakers, as well as the IT departments driving the shift, are searching for a new middle ground.

The WSJ’s Brent Kendall and Nicole Hong explain that while the case before the court involves Microsoft, the government also is also looking at Alphabet Inc.‘s Google, whose network-management practices often involve dividing data from a single customer file into chunks that are moved within an international network of data centers.

“Legal and policy have to be reflected in how you architect your infrastructure” said Jeff Pollard, principal analyst at Forrester Research Inc., who specializes in security. In some cases, he said, it could be akin to “lawyers dictating the type of software that we write.”

The Microsoft case concerns whether emails and customer data stored overseas are subject to U.S. search warrants. It highlights the often conflicting interests between technology companies that seek to protect user privacy and law enforcement agencies concerned about public safety and the ability to conduct thorough investigations. Microsoft has not fully complied with a Justice Department warrant requiring it to turn over information from an account allegedly tied to illegal drug activity in the U.S. The company turned over some account data that was stored in the U.S., but said it shouldn’t have to hand over emails stored on a server in Ireland.

If the court rules in favor of Microsoft, it’s likely to be more difficult for law enforcement to obtain digital evidence from overseas, said Aaron Cooper, vice president of global policy for software industry trade group BSA, The Software Alliance. Such a ruling could also prompt criminals or other bad actors to store their data overseas, he said.

If the court rules in favor of law enforcement, however, technology companies may find it more difficult to do business abroad, and may have to violate one country’s laws to comply with those of another, Mr. Cooper said.

“Whichever way this comes out, at least (the technology) industry is still going to be looking for legislative solution,” Mr. Cooper said. BSA is putting support behind the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act, or Cloud Act. The bipartisan legislation, introduced in February, seeks to create frameworks that technology companies could use to comply with law enforcement’s investigative demands while raising privacy standards and avoiding legal conflicts, according to a statement summarizing the bill.